File card drawers with means to compact the file cards



1962 E- BERGMAN 3,057,358

FILE CARD DRAWERS WITH MEANS TO COMPACT THE FILE CARDS Filed March 16,1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l my PM imu- -m j INVENTOR. F- G 2 0 BEEGMANgkflkjlan;

ATTUE EX Oct. 9, 1962 E BERGMAN FILE CARD DRAWERS WITH MEANS TO COMPACTTHE FILE CARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1961 FIG4 INVENTOR. 0BERG/HAN 2 Arrow/Ex J I. '.......'l

3,057,358 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,057,358 FILE CARD DRAWERS WITH MEANSTO CUMPACT THE FlLE CARDS Ed Bergman, New York, N.Y., assignor to ArtSteel Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar.16, 1961, Ser. No. 96,296 1 (Jlaiin. (iii. 129-28) This inventionrelates to file card drawers with means to compact the file cards andkeep them in compacted condition.

Certain features disclosed herein are disclosed in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 853,835, filed Nov. 18, 1959, now abandoned forCard File Drawers with Means to Compact the File Cards.

An object of this invention is to provide a drawer of the characterdescribed provided with a longitudinal central rack and with a trackcomprising longitudinal, inwardly opening rail grooves at opposite sidesof said rack, a card follower to push cards forwardly in the drawer andprovided with a rearwardly extending slider fixed thereto and havingoutwardly extending rail flanges loosely and slidably received in saidgrooves, and a central portion straddling said rack and interconnectingsaid flanges, a link pivoted to the follower and being inclineddownwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and an actuating lever pivotedmediately the ends thereof, to the link, and having an upwardly andrearwardly inclined handle, and a downwardly extending arm projectingdown through an opening in the central position of said slider andnormally having its lower end engaging between a pair of rack teeth, andmaking an angle of less than 180 with said link, and being of suchlength that the handle may either be swung forwardly from normalposition, to move said arm into straightline alignment with said link toadvance the follower forwardly and move it upwardly to press said railflanges of the slider against the tops of said grooves for toggleclamping the follower in advanced position, and for holding itself inclamped condition, or the handle may be swung back from normal positionto raise the lower end of said arm up out of engagement with respect tosaid rack teeth, to permit the follower with its slider to be slidablymoved easily forwardly or rearwardly in the drawer.

With such construction, the follower may remain in normal condition inany longitudinal position to which it is moved, against accidentalmovement; it may be readily moved back or forth in its drawer by firstpulling the handle back and when it is desired to compact cards at thefront end of the drawer, the follower may be first slidably movedforwardly to contact the pack of cards, and then the handle may be swungforward to further compact the cards and to self clamp the follower incard compacting position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a card drawer andfollower of the character described in which the opening in the centralstraddling portion of the slider comprises a transverse slot of suchwidth as to permit swinging back of the handle sufficiently to pull thelower end of the arm of the lever out of engagement with respect to therack teeth, but narrow enough to grip and bind or lock said arm andprevent it from sliding out of the slot, so that it cannot disengagefrom the slider.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide in a device of thecharacter described, spring means biasing said link and arm of saidlever pivoted thereto, toward straightline alignment, to aid inpreventing accidental breaking of the toggle clamp of the follower.

A further object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged anddurable file card drawer of the character described which shall berelatively inexpensive to manufacture, which shall be smooth andpositive in operation, easy to manipulate and yet practical andefiicient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which thescope of invention will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown an illustrativeembodiment of this invention,

PEG. 1 is a top plan view of a file card drawer with follower, embodyingthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1, and Showingthe toggle clamping mechanism for the follower, in position for easysliding movement back and forth in the drawer, with the lever handlepulled back;

FIG. 3 is a partial view of the structure of FIG. 2, with the clampingmechanism in normal position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, with the toggle mechanism in lockingor clamping position, with the lever handle pushed or swung up;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7--7 of HG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 88 of FIG. 6.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10 designates a device embodyingthe invention. Said device 10 comprisesa drawer 11 which may be made ofmetal. Said drawer 11 comprises a body 12 having a bottom wall 13 fromthe sides of which extend upwardly, side walls 14. The bottom wall 13comprises a pair of raised co planar portions 15 between which is acentral longitudinal depressed channel portion 16 of channel shapedcross section having a bottom web 17 connected by side offset portions18 to said co-planar portions.

At the rear end of the body 12 is a back wall 20 of any usualconstruction fixed to the rear edges of walls 13 and 14.

At the front end of the body is a front wall 21 of any usualconstruction fixed to the front edges of wall 13, 14 and provided with ahandle 22.

Fixed to the bottom web 17 of the depressed trough 16 of the bottom wallis a longitudinal combined track and rail member 25. Said member 25extends from the rear end of the bottom wall 12 to a point severalinches short of the front wall 21. Said member 25 may be made of asingle piece of sheet metal and comprises a bottom web 26 contacting andwelded or otherwise secured to web 17. Extending up from the sides ofwall 26 are side walls 27 contacting offset shoulders 18. EX- tendinginwardly from the upper ends of side walls 27 are horizontal, co-planar,similar, symmetrically disposed flanges 29. Thus inwardly openingopposed grooves 30 are formed between flanges 29 and wall 26, for thepurpose hereinafter appearing.

Wall 26 is formed with equally spaced, transverse, centrally locatedupwardly punched teeth 31, the ends of which are spaced inwardly of theinner edges of the flanges 29. Said teeth 31 are rounded transversely ofsaid teeth, and they are also rounded at their ends. The spaces betweenthe teeth are about as Wide as the teeth themselves.

Slidably mounted in the drawer, for forward and rearward movement, is afile card follower 4i). Said follower comprises a follower member 41having a vertical wall 42 having a top rearwardly extending flange 43provided with a rear, downwardly extending lip 44. Extending rearwardlyfrom the lower end of wall 42 is a horizontal flange 45.

Fixed to the rear of the follower member 41 is a slider 46. Said slider46 comprises a vertical central strip 47 contacting the rear surface ofwall 42 and welded or riveted or otherwise secured thereto. At the upperend of strip 47 are a pair of side, parallel apertured cars 48 locatedjust beneath flange 43 and between wall 42 and lip 44. Extendingrearwardly from the lower end of strip 47 is runner or rider 519.

Said runner or rider 51 comprises a saddle portion having a top web wall51 which extends from the lower end of strip 47, and overlies the rackteeth 31. Extending down from the sides of top web 51 are side walls 52which pass down between the inner edges of flanges 29 and the outer endsof the rack teeth 31. Extending outwardly from the lower ends of sidewalls 52 are coplanar horizontal flanges 53 loosely received in theinwardly opening grooves 30. The thickness of the flanges 53 is lessthan the vertical height of grooves 30 between wall 26 and flanges 29.The flanges 53 extend forwardly somewhat forwardly of the plane of wall42. Thus, the follower may move forwardly and rearwardly as the flanges53 slide in grooves 30.

Means is provided to cause the follower to be advanced from any positionto which it is moved, and to clamp the follower in advanced position. Tothis end, ears 48 carry a transverse pivot pin 60. Pivoted thereto is alink 61 having a transverse web 62 and side flanges 63 formed withsuitable bearing openings 64 through which said pivot pin 60 passes.

Web 62 is formed near its lower end with an opening 66 and provided withan annular rearwardly extending flange 67 for the purpose hereinafterappearing. The flanges 63 are formed adjacent the lower ends thereofwith openings carrying a transverse pivot pin 68. Pivoted to said pin 68is a lever 70. Lever 70 comprises a lower arm 71 having side flanges 72formed with openings through which the pivot pin 68 passes. Flanges 72are interconnected by a web 73. Flanges 72 straddle flanges 63 of thelink. Extending upwardly and rearwardly from arm 71 is a handle arm 75.

Web 73 has a tongue 76 at its lower end extending beyond side flanges72. The top wall 51 of the slider is formed with a transverse slot 80and side walls 52 of said slider are formed with enlarged slots 81communicating with slot 80 and extending both forwardly and rearwardlythereof. Tongue 76 is narrower than web 73 and projects through slot 80.Flanges 72 straddle the walls 52 and are located inside of the inneredges of flanges 29, so that the lower ends of said flanges 72 may movedown substantially to flanges 53.

It will be noted that link 61 extends down to a point somewhat below themid-height of wall 41. It is inclined downwardly and rearwardly.

The slot 80 is of greater dimension between its edges than the thicknessof tongue 76.

On pin 68 is a torsion spring 90 having spaced coils 91 receiving thepin, extending from said coils are arms 92 extending upwardly andagainst the inner surface of web 62 of link 61. Arms 92 areinterconnected by a semi-circular portion 93 extending around flange 67of opening 66. Extending from coils 91 are also free arms 94 contactingthe inner surface of web 73.

Torsion spring 30 tends to move the link 61 and arm 71 toward straightline alignment.

Normally, when the pack of file cards C are loose, link 61 is inclineddownwardly and rearwardly as shown in FIG. 3. Arm 71 makes an angle ofless than 180 to link 61. Tongue 76 projects down through slot 86 andcontacts wall 26- between a pair of rack teeth 31. In

4 such position, the arm 71 is somewhat inclined downwardly andforwardly.

The arm 71 is of such length that the lower edge of the tongue 76 willreach wall 26 between teeth 31, but the flanges 53 will be substantiallyon wall 26, at opposite sides of the teeth 31. In such position, pushrearwards or forwards and the follower member 41 will not move thefollower because of engagement of tongue 76 with teeth 31.

However, if the handle 75 is pulled back and lever 70 is swung in aclockwise direction from position of FIG. 3 to the position of FIG. 2,tongue 76 is pulled up above the teeth 31, and the follower may slidablymove easily forwardly or rearwardly and the slider flanges 53 are stillclose to wall 26 and are loose in the grooves 39.

It will be noted that as lever 78 is rotated in a clockwise directionrelative to pivot 68, link 61 is rotated in a counter-clockwisedirection about pivot pin 60. Also during such movement the angle of arm71 to the horizontal decreases. The width of slot and the thickness ofweb 73 and its angle is such that said web will bend between the opposededges of the slot to prevent said tongue 76 from being pulled all theway out of the slot. The tongue 76 will contact the upper side of therear edge of the slot and the underside of the forward edge of saidslot.

When it is desired to compact the file cards C to prevent warping, thefollower with the handle 75 retracted (FIG. 2) is pushed forwardly asfar as the wall 42 will go. The lever 70 is then moved in acounter-clockwise direction causing the lever to first move to positionof FIG. 3 and then to position of FIG. 4. As the lower end of tongue 76engages the plate 26, between teeth 31 (FIG. 3), further rotationalmovement of the lever will cause the follower to first advancesufliciently to tightly compact the file cards and then to lift thefollower for moving flanges 53 up tightly against the underside offlanges 29 to clamp the follower in advanced position. As this operationis accomplished the link 61 and arm 71 of lever 70 moves into straightline aligned position forming a toggle which acts to maintain thefollower in self-clamping condition. When the operator withdraws hishand from the lever after the parts have reached the toggle position ofFIG. 4, the follower stays clamped and it will not unclamp, until thehandle 75 is again pulled back to break the toggle.

When the handle 75 is pulled back to the position of FIG. 2 and thenreleased, the spring W tends to move the parts back to the normalposition of FIG. 3, since the spring tends to move the link and armtoward straight line aligned position.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an apparatus in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adaptedto meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and asvarious changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it isto be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

In combination, a drawer having a bottom wall a longitudinal track inthe bottom wall provided with transverse teeth and with lateral flangemeans, a follower in the drawer movable forwardly in the drawer, arearwardly extending rider rigidly fixed to the lower end of thefollower and having lateral flange means engaging under the flange meanson the track, said rider being formed with an opening, a link, a firstpivot pivoting said link at its upper end to the rear of the follower,said link being inclined rearwardly toward the bottom wall and away fromsaid follower, a lever, a second pivot pivoting said lever to the lowerend of said link, said lever being provided with a lower portion havinga tongue at its lower end slidably and pivotally engaging in saidopening in the rider, said opening being spaced rearwardly of said firstpivot, in a first position, said lower portion of said lever beinginclined downwardly and forwardly from said second pivot toward thebottom wall, with the lower end of said tongue in engagement betweenadjacent teeth on the track, said lever having a handle at its upperend, said link and lower portion of the lever constituting a toggle andbeing of such lengths that upon swinging the upper handle portion end ofsaid lever in one direction toward the follower, said link and handleportion of the lever assume a dead center position wherein said firstand second pivots and the lower end of said tongue become colinear in aline inclined downwardly and rearwardly away from the follower, andwherein the lower end of the tongue in said colinear position is forcedagainst the track between a pair of adjacent teeth thereof, and movesthe follower forwardly, and, when the follower is pressed against abunch of cards in the drawer,

6 moves the follower up to press the flange means on the rider againstthe flange means on the track, to lock the follower against movementrelative to the drawer, said link and lever being movable to a secondposition wherein said second pivot is slightly beyond said dead centerposition, and means for preventing further movement of said second pivotbeyond said second position and away from said dead center position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS564,404 Andrews July 21, 1896 628,183 Painter July 4, 1899 2,236,807Swimmer Apr. 1, 1941 2,624,343 Welk Jan. 6, 1953 2,924,222 Myers Feb. 9,1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 507,841 France July 7, 1920

